INDIANAPOLIS - At its booth at the American Coatings Show, Eastman Chemical Co., Kingsport, TN, featured products from its coatings, adhesives, specialty polymers and inks (CASPI) business segment, including additives for the transportation, industrial and architectural markets, and showcased the ACS debut of Eastman Optifilm™ additive OT1200.

Visitors to Eastman’s booth also learned about Eastman’s latest achievement: being honored as a 2012 ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year. Eastman is one of only two chemical companies to ever earn the distinction.

In addition, the company celebrated the golden anniversary of Eastman Texanol™ ester alcohol, the flagship coalescent introduced in 1962. Customers and other attendees joined the Eastman team for a toast and festivities themed “The Gold Standard in Paint.”

“For 50 years, we have been proud to work with some of the best names in the paint industry,” said Eastman Business Director Charlie Giaudrone. “Our coalescents have helped paint perform better in a variety of ways. Texanol essentially set the bar for making latex paint more efficient in real-world applications. You could say our coalescents have been the gold standard inside paint for the gold standards in paint.”

As a coalescent for latex, Texanol improves paint performance through better film integrity, weather resistance, scrub resistance and durability. Coalescents work by temporarily softening polymer particles, allowing them to fuse into a continuous film and form a hard surface as the coalescent evaporates. Because they demonstrate optimum evaporation rates — when compared to water-soluble solvents — coalescing aids remain preferred alternatives for improving paint performance.

Other Eastman products highlighted at the show included:

• Eastman Optifilm™ additives for low-VOC paints — including Eastman Optifilm™ 400 coalescent and the new Eastman Optifilm™ additive OT1200, a low-VOC alternative that significantly improves workability of paint by increasing open time, and ensures easy application, a great finish, and easier clean-up across a broad range of environmental conditions;
• Eastman Solus™ performance additives — high-performance, VOC-compliant additives for high-solids solventborne and waterborne coatings - sustainable solutions derived from natural and renewable cellulose, helping ensure brighter colors, smoother finishes and improved gloss;
• A broad portfolio of Eastman™ performance solvents, featuring Eastman MAK (methyl n-amyl ketone) and Eastman MIAK (methyl isoamyl ketone) — lower-density, high-performance solvents that improve flow and leveling, delivering a smoother, glossier finish;
• Eastman adhesion promoters for waterborne and solventborne coatings systems — a product line that ensures adhesion to low-surface energy substrates like TPO, polyethylene and polypropylene; and
• Eastman resin intermediates — featuring Eastman AAEM (acetoacetoxyethyl methacrylate) acrylic monomer, Eastman TMPD glycol, Eastman CHDM glycol and Eastman CHDA acid — products that offer better performance through properties like chemical resistance, hardness and flexibility.